Heisman Watch: Malachi Toney makes a big jump and Julian Sayin's injury changes everything

The Heisman race took some interesting turns with the results of Week 7. Jeremiah Smith is still leading the pack in this race, but the FanDuel odds got a lot closer, with the two top quarterbacks — Darian Mensah and Trinidad Chambliss — closing in, and Malachi Toney working his way back into the mix.

This is all the result of Julian Sayin's injury. The Ohio State quarterback will be out for a while, possibly the rest of the season, and now the Buckeyes' season is in the hands of Luke Fahey and Tavien St. Clair. 

Neither quarterback is likely to gain the confidence of Buckeyes fans or Ryan Day, at least not to the level Sayin had. And Sayin, while not exactly a superstar, knew how to execute the plan on offense. That plan was to get the ball to Smith and use the other guys on offense enough that Smith wasn't facing constant triple teams. We'll see if the new Buckeyes QB platoon can do the same thing. 

As for Mensah's odds, they jumped significantly to +340 after being a +1000 last week and Chambliss' jumped from +1300 to +600. But it was Toney, with his electric performance against FSU, that moved from +6500 to +1600. 

When I look at those odds, I believe the numbers between Mensah and Toney should be reversed. It's not a knock on Mensah, who I think is very good, but Toney is elite, and he's driving the Miami Hurricanes offense. Most fans will probably agree with that take. Again, it's not that Mensah has been bad (although he had some very rough moments against FSU), but Toney has just been that good.

The top Heisman contenders according to FanDuel

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith (-110)
Miami QB Darian Mensah (+340)
Ole Miss QB Trinidad Chambliss (+600)
Miami WR Malachi Toney (+1600)
Notre Dame QB CJ Carr (+1800)
Oregon State WR Jesse Legree (+1800)
BYU QB Bear Bachmeier (+2500)

If some of you fans aren't already following what Legree is doing out at Oregon State, check out some of his highlights. The true freshman (!!) leads the country in receiving, nearly 60 yards more than Smith, and he's averaging a whopping 22.6 yards per catch with 14 touchdowns. 

The recruiting battle to acquire Jesse Legree out of the transfer portal has already begun with Chad Johnson (is he Chad Johnson again or still Chad Ochocinco?) offering Legree $2 million to stay at Oregon State, which is where Johnson played under former Hurricanes coach Dennis Erickson. 

Something tells me it might take more than $2 million to keep Legree in Corvallis, Oregon. But as of right now, you can't discount the potential of Legree's getting an invitation to New York. Those numbers are too big to ignore.

The other new addition to the list is BYU's Bear Bachmeier, who led the Cougars to a landmark win over Notre Dame last week. Bachmeier is just a true sophomore, and I wouldn't be surprised if he's the Heisman favorite going into the 2027 season. Bachmeier has already drawn comparisons to Josh Allen, and I don't expect the surrounding hype to die down anytime soon.

I don't get the continued high odds on CJ Carr. What has he shown that is remotely close to Heisman caliber? Carr is a perfectly good game manager for a very good, playoff-caliber team. He's perfect in that role, but he's not a Heisman, not even worth an invitation to New York. 

As for those that I believe will be in NYC as it stands today, it's Smith, Toney, Chambliss and Mensah. But Legree can certainly knock one of the quarterbacks out. 

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

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